Bengaluru: Karnataka chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Monday said that he would let the people of the state know his decision on the contentious farm loan waiver.

“I will place all issues related to loan waiver before the people on Wednesday in Bengaluru,” Kumaraswamy said in New Delhi.

His announcement comes shortly after his predecessor and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader B.S. Yeddyurappa attacked the chief minister on the issue.

The Rs53,000 crore farm loan waiver has become one of the more contentious issues between the coalition partners. While the Congress has not said anything on whether it will back the JD(S)’ election manifesto, Kumaraswamy has said that he would have to take all decisions in consultation with its ally and cannot take unilateral action.

Yeddyurappa had earlier said that the BJP would wait one week for the new coalition government to announce a complete loan waiver and then decide on the next course of action.

The BJP, which had announced a waiver in its election manifesto, has kept up the pressure on the new government to keep its promise to the more than 40 million farmers hit by drought.

The BJP, which had earlier threatened a state-wide bandh on Monday, retracted its call on Sunday after farmer associations did not back the party.

JD(S) had promised to waive off all farmer loans, including those taken from nationalised banks, within 24 hours of being sworn in to power. However, the fractured mandate has changed the equation. The BJP won 104 seats, the Congress 78 and the JD(S)-combine 38, including one from its pre-poll ally, the Bahujan Samaj Party.

The Congress and JD(S) formed a post-poll alliance to form the government and proved its majority on Friday, denying the BJP, which emerged as the single largest party, a chance to add Karnataka to its list of electoral conquests.